Paul Ruinaard

This guy reminds me of the Frank Abignale - the "Catch me if you can" dude. I can see fame and fortune in this story.

All of this wrt technical skills goes back to the discussion around dropping hundreds of thousands Zars on your dream race and then only to have a day 1 or 2 crash whilst going down a technical section. Break something and it ends your race, your partners race and there is no asking for a refund. So you become super conservative about the stuff you know you could probably ride or may think is a bit technical and then rather walk it, because you want to finish it. Honestly it screws up the fun you would have normally had IMO. Also mismatch in partners abilities - you dont want to force the weaker technical rider in to a mistake and then end the race that way. You think differently in the Epic. You are running a long game with all aspects focuse don a longer term horizon. Even Anika walked the one descent in the prologue, but having said that its super sketchy and i probably think about 50% of the field would also have walked it.

Good article IMO and the race has changed. it is going to fracxture IMO in to a pro race and a Letape type race for the amateurs in the not so distant future. Thats the only way forwrd when the levels keep increasing. That or more rigid qualification criteria than the size of your wallet and ambition.

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/garmin-connect-plus I see this on Bike Radar. It was only a matter of time before this started to become a service. I think we will see more of this and its going to be very interesting as the tech matures. FWIW i have seen on F 1 sites AI connected virtual driving rigs that take pro drivers and materially improve their lap times. there is no reason this cant or wont happen in cycling. Imagine live real time copilot functionality on your head unit monitoring your perfromance and coaching you.

Yep agreed. I have been through 2 x motors and 2 x batteries on a Specialized levo - one was during lockdown so replacement batteries were like hens teeth. I had the original invoices so got a discount on the motor. Batteries - good luck. And when they fail they are catastrophic. I have tried to get them repaired but no one can reset the Battery Management Software (BMS) that Specialized uses so good luck with repairs. Having said that at least with Specialized you can get spares and repairs done. Some bikes are so niche i dont know how to source spares. In general with ebikes there is a need to stick to known brands as the motors fail and so do the batteries. FYI the last thing i had that popped was the Specialized range extender i so dearly love as it removes range anxiety on my Turbo Levo SL - i have a R 11k paper weight right now as no one can repair it.

Again amongst other things I can think of is the need to find like minded people who are enduring your pain and spending as much time on their training and journey as you are for your big event . Peer groups really help to pull you through and keep you motivated, other than your partner. If you train in a large city you can find people who are training for your events and ride with them as the length of some of the base rides is sometimes way above what your regular riding groups would be willing to commit to. When you are fit and doing base rides of 5 1/2 hours at 30 kmh on a road bike you cover a massive distance. I still have memories of places i never thought i would ride to on a bike. Your normal Saturday riding buddies aren't going to be willing to ride as slow or as far as you may need to. That makes it very tough and easy to just do the group ride or race which is what you normally do. You need mates who are in the same boat and mates other than your partner. You get to know each other very well and get in to a bit of a bubble. Very unusual experience.

I think a dicussion on budget for "hardware" is essential given the training volume you have to make plus the need to ensure your chosen steed is race ready and reliable implies many chains, clusters brake pads and tyres as well, some of which will be used in training alone and in the race then be prepared for servicing costs, massages and the like as well as daily kit changes, nutritional plans etc. This all adds up execptionally fast. Also to be honest probably start with new brake pads plus three to four sets spare, new tyres and spares, new chains and clusters plus spares and then depending on hardwrae batteries etc. Plus mechanics to fit them and ensure the bike is repaired as if you are at the back you are knackered.

As they all said the lowest cost option is maintain and ride it if its in reasoable condition. Clusters, chains, etc are all available. Unless you are doing some radical stuff and are pro level the bike is probably more competent than the rider (i dont know you) and when you get to the point you are being held back by the bike then you are probably ready for a new bike. Sticker prices are falling in bike land, so maybe somehting you see makes sense. Unless you have cash burning holes in your pockets and an urge to go N+1. Thats a different discussion.

https://en.brujulabike.com/tragedy-at-the-absa-cape-epic-2025-a-rider-dies-during-the-competition/ Not sure if it has been discussed but if it has sorry for the re-post however here is some details of the fatality that was rumoured but now confirmed. RIP the rider. Very sad.

You need to understand how the camera flattens those ascents and descents. They are crazy steep and super cambered with gravel and everything trying to push you off line. Very tough and very risky. Also get in to the mindset of an epic rider. The costs, effort and sacrifices you have made are monumental. Anything that causes you to fall or is a risk you avoid. So that stuff you would normally ride you walk because if you take a risk and screw it up you take your team out and potentially end both of your races. I can tell you, you start to think and ride very differently and worry more about the long game than acing a technical section.

At my house in Paarl today in the sun at 13:14. You could see then it was very dangerous then. . I saw 41,5 in the car at the same time

so just checking whether the stage has officially been stopped. Where can we see that and what happens to those that were still out on the course?

I am in Paarl - I had 46,8 Centigrade on my outside thermometer on my deck in the sun at Midday today. 41,5C in the car. Thats pretty much a recipe for disaster. Brutal conditions and really always the back markers who will be out there. Not much moving air and on Paarl mountain you will be baked to well done in minutes.

Maybe its the prominent badge they give you to mount in a place on your bars and display to all your mates which is the real value to the members. Like vanity plates - why ?

FWIW my 2 cents worth. The answer is crime pays handsomely. I always look at the biggest ransomware rings in the world and they are all young guys driving Lamborghinis and living like gods in ultra lavish lifestyles. Like Mr Tate and his brother. Dont care who the targets are - hospitals etc all fair game. If you interview mosty of disadvanteged and undeerprivileged youth in South africa the majority would swap their eye teeth to be a big man like Zuma or Mugabe etc. Irrespective of the morality about it. Gangsters in CTN live the good life. Great career path for a lightie. Short rise to the top. Short and quick bright shine and short and quick fall. Extreme violence and a misguided and unfortunate upnringing an asset. As you say - life expectancy is always short but hey live fast, die young and have a good looking corpse seems to be the mantra of a lot of the world. Trump is IMO adding flames to this little conflagartion with his robber baron everything for sale attitude - we will surely live in interesting times